ENOLA was created in 2016 as the first solo performance by Eliška Brtnická, and with its February presentation at the Cirkopolis Festival it celebrates its 10th anniversary. The title comes from the nickname Enola Gay — the American bomber that dropped the atomic bomb on Hiroshima on 6 August 1945. The aircraft was named by its pilot after his mother, Enola Gay Tibbets.

The performance, however, is not solely about the tragedy of Hiroshima; it also reflects the inner wars that sometimes erupt within each of us. Enola explores Japanese mentality through Japanese aesthetic concepts. It gathers dust inside emptiness, compresses it into a small parcel of calm and concentration, and offers a glimpse of hope.

Although the performance was slowly approaching its farewell in 2021, the unfolding political situation and the resurgence of global conflicts made its themes relevant once again. And so Enola continues to be performed. For its 10th anniversary, it receives a new lighting design by Katarína Morávek Ďuricová.

From Edo I carry on my fan a small souvenir – a mountain breeze from Fuji — Matsuo Bashō